EL ACENTO ESCRITO O TILDE

Fuente: e Learn Spanish Language

http://www.spanishdict.com

Fuente: e Learn Spanish Language

http://www.spanishdict.com
In Spanish words are divided into four categories
according to their stress: sobresdrjulas,
esdrjulas, llanas, and agudas. Llanas and agudas
account for almost 90% of all Spanish words.
Aguda These are words which are
stressed on the last syllable. If they end in a
consonant other than 'n' or 's' they have
no written tilde. About 1/3 of all Spanish
words are agudas, including all infinitives.

avestruz, matador, hablar

Llana - These are words which are
stressed on the second to last (penult)
syllable. If they end in a vowel, 'n', or
's' they have no written tilde. Over half
of all Spanish words are llanas.

mono, cantan, computadoras

Esdrjula These are words whose stress falls on
the third to last (antepenult) syllable. They always
have a tilde.
rpido, Amrica, clsico

Sobreesdrjula These are words whose accent

falls on any syllable preceding the third to last. The
only words with this stress are verb forms with
one or two unstressed pronouns attached to
them. These words always have a tilde.
mramelo, prstasela, devolvindonoslas
In order to pronounce words correctly, you
will need to know the natural (usual) stress
patterns of Spanish. For words without a
written tilde,

1. If a word ends in n, s, or a vowel (vocal),

the word is llana and stress falls on the next-
to-last syllable (penltima slaba).
Repitan llamas hola

2. If a word without a tilde ends in any
consonant (consonante) other than n or s, the
word is aguda and stress falls on the last
syllable (ltima slaba).
espaol usted regular

3. Any exception to rules 1 and 2 must have a written
accent mark (tilde o acento ortogrfico) on the stressed
vowel.
Below, the underlined syllable represents where the stress
would be if there was no written mark, whereas the arrow
() shows where the stress actually is when the word is
pronounced. Since the two do not coincide, the above
rules for pronouncing do not give the right result, and a
written accent is needed on the stressed vowel to let the
reader know that the regular rules have been broken and a
different syllable must be stressed.
televisin telfono lpiz

Monosyllables (words consisting of only one syllable)
do not need an accent mark since that is the only
stressed vowel. Certain monosyllables, however, have
a written accent to distinguish them from similar
words that are pronounced the same but have
different meanings:
 .
The words esto, eso, aquello are always
pronouns and never have an accent
mark.
De quin es esto?
Interrogatives such as cmo, qu,
dnde, cundo, cul, etc. always have
accents when they are used as
questions or exclamations:
Cundo llegas, hoy? Qu bien!
They have no accent when they are
used as conjunctions or pronouns:
Eso est donde lo dejaste.
Cuando quieras, hablamos.
 Vowels Diphthongs and Hiatus
When you have two vowels together the stress
naturally goes on the strong vowel (a, e, o) and
we usually get a diphthong (two vowels in one
syllable) when they combine with one of the
weak vowels (u, i):
bueno, cuota, viaje, aire, peine, oigan
However, if the word stress is on the weak
vowel (i, u), then this vowel must show an
accent to mark a hiatus, and that it belongs in
its own syllable. The diphthong disappears:
tos, remos, salan, graden, ah.